Snow Crash is definitely unlike anything I've ever read. The novel is fast paced with moments of dialogue and original writing that made me laugh out loud (okay, perhaps just chuckle quietly in appreciation). I appreciate the book's originality and can only imagine how surreal it must have been to read when it was originally published in 1992 (by today's standards, the technology that plays an integral part throughout the book is eerily familiar, especially given the book's context).

While I was sometimes lost during the technical discussions among the hackers about how computers work, I was still able to piece together what was going on (albeit, probably not at the level that someone with more knowledge about computer programming could). To me, the truly fascinating part of the novel involved its incorporation of Sumerian mythology and the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, providing a creative explanation as to the relevance of these ancient stories to a modern and technology based culture. While I enjoyed the novel, parts of it felt disjointed and it suffered a bit from the hype that surrounds it as this resulted in my having certain set expectations before I began reading the book. Otherwise, it was an enjoyable read that I think would be better served by a second reading.

Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder

While this book is over twenty years old now, it still seems fresh to me. The outpouring of novel ideas, concepts, and zany action combine to make this story into a hysterical experience. I've read a number of Stephenson's later works, but this early one is the craziest, the most outlandish, action-packed, and fun.

The story is crazy on a number of levels. It pokes fun at our institutions, such as commercialism gone amok. Atop of a commercial jail, a sign reads:

n  THE HOOSEGOW
Premium incarcerations and restraint services
We welcome busloads!n

It pokes fun at the rigidity and flooding of regulations at federal institutions. For example, in the federal office building where one of the characters works, there are prohibitions against all types of "pool" activities,

n  but a single, onetime exception has now been made for any office that wishes to pursue a joint bathroom-tissue strategy.n

Americans seem to like "oversized" things, so one character

n  " ... tried prostheses for a while--some of them are very good. But nothing is as good as a motorized wheelchair. And then I got to thinking, why do motorized wheelchairs always have to be tiny pathetic things that strain to go up a little teeny ramp? So I bought this--it is an airport firetruck from Germany--and converted it into my new motorized wheelchair."n

And, talking about BIG,

n  "What is this, a quadrillion dollars?"
"One-and-a-half quadrillion. Inflation, you know."n

On one level, the book is about Hiro, an African-American, a pizza-delivery/hacker/swordsman guy. Hiro teams up with Y.T., a 15-year-old girl who is a courier. Hiro must deliver every pizza within 30 minutes of an order, or the president of the company will give the customer an all-expense-paid trip to Italy. His super-charged car ends up in a swimming pool, and the girl decides to take the pizza and deliver it on time. She rides a truly space-age skateboard, catching rides by "harpooning" vehicles.

Hiro discovers a "virus" called Snow Crash, that converts ordinary people into babbling religious converts. "Basically, anyone who reads the National Enquirer or watches pro wrestling on TV is easy to convert." But, since the virus is digital/binary, it can kill hackers. Hence, Hiro takes on a mission to discover the source of the virus. Hiro asks,

n  "Wait a minute, Juanita. Make up your mind. This Snow Crash thing--is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?"
Juanita shrugs. "What's the difference?"n

Indeed, there is a brilliant segue into the development of Sumerian mythology, linguistics, and religion. What is a virus, actually? Hiro speculates,

n  "The Torah is like a virus. It uses the human brain as a host. The host--the human--makes copies of it. And more humans come to synagogue and read it."n

This is a wild story. If you like satirical science fiction--read this book. If you like action stories--definitely read it. If you like intellectual discussions about linguistics, history, religion, and computer hacking--this book is for you. If you like romance--well, you can find romance elsewhere.

Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson

Snow Crash is a science fiction novel by American writer Neal Stephenson, published in 1992.

Like many of Stephenson's novels, it covers history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryptography, memetics and philosophy.

Hiro Protagonist is a hacker and pizza delivery driver for the Mafia.

He meets Y.T. (short for Yours Truly), a young skateboard Kourier (courier) who refers to herself in the third person, during a failed attempt to make a delivery on time.

Y.T. completes the delivery on his behalf and they strike up a partnership, gathering intel and selling it to the CIC, the for-profit organization that evolved from the CIA's merger with the Library of Congress.

Within the Metaverse, Hiro is offered a datafile named Snow Crash by a man named Raven who hints that it is a form of narcotic.

Hiro's friend and fellow hacker Da5id views a bitmap image contained in the file which causes his computer to crash and Da5id to suffer brain damage in the real world.

Hiro meets his ex-girlfriend Juanita Marquez, who gives him a database containing a large amount of research compiled by her associate, Lagos.

his research posits connections between the virus, ancient Sumerian culture, and the legend of the Tower of Babel. Juanita advises him to be careful and disappears. ...

تاریخ نخستین خوانش

عنوان: برفک؛ نویسنده: نیل استیونسون (استیونسن)؛ مترجم: پیمان اسماعیلیان؛ تهران؛ نشر باژ؛ 1399؛ در 534ص؛ شابک 9786222192570؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 20م

رمان «برفک» در «سبک سایبرپانک (نوعی بازی)» است که ایده های خوشایندی درباره ی چگونگی کارکرد زبان، مغز انسان، و همانندی آن با زبانهای برنامه نویسی و دنیای کامپیوتر دارد؛ رمان سایبرپانک «برفک» داستانی از آمریکای سده ی بیست و یکم میلادی و هکری نوجوان که تئوری جهانی زبانی (زبان) چامسکی را واکاوی می‌کند، و آن را به تار و پود دنیای دیوانه و مجازی‌اش راه می‌دهد، تئوری‌ای که یکی از رکن‌های اصلی آن این است که ذهن انسان ساختاری فیزیکی و ذاتی برای تشخیص و یادگیری زبان دارد

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 16/06/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی